Laoshan Black

I was digging into my tea cupboard this morning cleaning it up a bit when I came across a small sample of this. Well, I knew I had my first cup of the day then and there! I did add in a hint of half and half and a pinch of sweetener. I didn’t think it was possible but those additions really brought out the chocolate notes…yum! I found this to be a nice mellow cup of black tea to ease me into my very busy Sunday.

Finally added this tea to my ‘stash’. I endured the torture of reading endless amazing reviews that made me drool trying to imagine the taste. The package came pretty quickly and it still seemed like an eternity, waiting for tea packages is like waiting for presents on any Holiday as a kid.

I opened the bag to find beautifully rolled and twisted leaves and I immediately stuck my nose in. Smoky-chocolate sweetness with evident vanilla and a faint fruity/plummy scent.

The thing I loved the most about this tea… the color, the amazing light caramel color that just set you to be even more amazed about the strength of the brew. I love how tea can be ‘strong’ and still looking like light liquid ember under the light of the sun. Creamy chocolate and honey sweetness with the taste of a vanilla flavored caramel, to me it is slightly floral after a few steeps.

The leaves open beautifully and seems almost unreal how much they unfurl; makes you wonder, how could you ever roll and twist a leaf that way and make it look completely undamaged. One of my favorite black teas.

this is a complicated tea, while also being simply striking.

it’s a laoshan black, no big deal…. or so one could mistake by the oversimplified name. this is not a simple anything.

long dark strands that seem innocuous until water was added. dry it smelled like leaves, steeped they became darker and deeper in smell and appearance.

the thing i am discovering about verdant teas is their quiet brilliance. this tea has a heavy dark chocolate-like tone. it’s not from an additive… but from incredible technique.

beautiful clear and untouched, hot, cold or creamed and sugared. my compliments to you verdant teas.

Another sample from Sil. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this tea, so it’s one I’ve been eager to try for a while, particularly since black teas have always been my favourite.

And this tea is black. The dry leaves are some of the most solidly and uniquely black I’ve seen so far, and they’re quite long and sort of curly. The scent is intensely chocolatey and maybe slightly bitter. It’s a good kind of bitterness, though, of the kind I’d attribute to dutch-process cocoa powder, which is what I’m being reminded of most at the moment. Definetly intriguing so far!

Brewed, the chocolatey scent remains and pulls through into the flavour. There’s also a slight something that reminds me of driving past a malting barley processing plant in the summer, and a deeper scent that reminds me of molasses. This is so good. Probably my new favourite among the black teas I’ve tried so far.

The taste is a more intense version of the scent — it’s strong, chocolatey, rich, malty, and bittersweet all at the same time. It almost seems slightly smoky, but I think that might be an coincidence of the strength rather than an element of the flavour in itself. As it cools, the chocolatey notes develop in intensity and there’s even something spicy (peppery?) that lingers at the back of the palate. It’s certainly a complex tea, but a deeply satisfying one all the same. I’m not surprised this gets such favourable reviews, because it really is a spectacular black tea that I won’t hesitate to recommend. I’m off to try some more steepings now!

Thanks again to Sil for giving me the opportunity to try this one!

First off, the leaves smell incredible. This is the greenest, freshest smelling black tea I’ve come across! There is so much life in the leaves. There is a huge hit of sweet dark black licorice here.
I know I won’t get through many steepings tonight, so I’m doing this western style. 3 Minutes/steeping.
First steeping: The color of the leaves and the liquor is incredible – a gorgeous copper oxide toned rusty hue. Scent – This is overwhelming – powdery, like Italian lemon cookies with carmalized sugar tones and – oh! Baking chocolate. And a hint of something like apple blossoms. Taste – Totally blown away. It tastes like powdery dark chocolate. Nutty, carob-y, with a toasted finish. This is so neat – it’s completely unlike any tea I’ve ever tried before. The talk about a coffee substitute for tea could lead here for an interesting discussion. Really unique. Some other time (not this time! Not the first time!) I want to try adding a splash of milk to see how my “tea as coffee” theory works in practice.

Second infusion: Scent – More chocolate, less licorice. A little more toasted, a little milky. Flavor – Slightly more bitter, a touch of astringency at the finish. It actually really works with the chocolate flavors. As a description of the chocolate flavor, it is so full it’s hard to believe that there isn’t actual bitter chocolate added. There’s a little bit of a berry flavor too.

Third infusion: Okay, I totally wimped out here and bowed to the tyranny of taking more ibuprofen on an empty stomach than I really should and drank the third steeping with milk. It was surprisingly good. The milk definitely covered some of the flavors, but it made for a really comforting and bracing drink. This is really too nice to add milk to but… I could definitely see grabbing this as my morning tea, milk and all.

And for the fourth steeping, well… I’m way too tired and so I’m donating the fourth steeping to a soak for my broken finger.
I used up three green tea bags I needed to get rid of, added pan-away essential oil for anti-microbial effects, rosemary, tea tree, frankincense, and eucalyptus. I made a tea of these and then threw it in the freezer to chill. Soaking my finger in this really brought down the swelling and helped a little with the pain. Yay! I’m adding the leaves and the long concentrated final steeping of the Laoshan Black (around 6 minutes with minimal water) for tomorrow.

Sample from Bonnie. Thank you, Bonnie, you have done me a great service with your excellent tea samples.

Dark leaves when dry. Unfortunately I cannot watch them steep easily now because I dropped my small glass teapot on the kitchen floor yesterday and it is now in a thousand pieces in the bin. :( When steeped the brew gives off a malty aroma (I seem to be calling every black tea I try at the moment chocolatey and malty!). There are dark cocoa notes in there too that enhance the whole aroma. The taste is more cocoa than malt. It’s really good. I’m sitting here holding the liquor in my mouth trying to work out everything that is going on here and trying not to laugh at memories of sitting with Benedictine in my mouth as the delicious pain builds and you eventually have to swallow before slurping down your coffee. Hmm, anyway, back to the tea. More cocoa than chocolate, malty, the aftertaste endures nicely. I could definitely drink this one regularly.

Makes the best ice tea, ever! I do it the concentrate way. Double the leaves and steep it with boiling water. Pour into a beer bottle with topper. When I’m ready, I pour it over ice. Sometimes add water to mellow it, because it has a nice bite. Plus, you can resteep the leaves.

So here’s a tip – Don’t buy the sample size. That just doesn’t make any sense. You’ve read the descriptions. You know how sometimes it can be work to dig up the right words to describe the way a tea tastes? It wasn’t work for these reviewers. The flavors everyone keeps talking about are front and center – as in, nearly like a flavored tea. I’m drinking my first Laoshan Black here on a Friday morning, and it’s hitting me the way a great beer – in this case, a smooth, oatmeal stout – can feel on Friday night after looking forward to it for a few days.

Thanks to Michelle for this sample. I bought 2 oz right away. This is like eating a caramel dark chocolate brownie. No lie.